What If?

It is part of human nature to ask questions, questions ranging from a simple "What time is it?" to the more complex and often unanswerable "Why am I alive?" As a high school math teacher for 26 years, I am blessed in the sense that most of the questions I am faced with in the classroom have definite answers. There are usually no grey areas or questions like "Are we taking proper care of our increasing elderly population?" that could lead to a debate.

This is the tenth article I’ve written for the Coma Recovery Association, a support group that I’ve been attending for several years now. This article centers around the two words of the title "What If?" Perhaps you’ve had a situation in which you could phrase a series of questions beginning with "What If?" The fact is you and I ended up in those situations and were it not for the ten phrases below that follow "What If?", I wouldn’t be writing this article!

1. What if I didn’t get my eyes examined when I did and was not diagnosed with a massive inoperable brain tumor?
   
   
2. What if my father had not come up to Nyack Community Hospital and suggest calling my friend Joe at New York Hospital to get a second opinion?
   
   
3. What if Pat did not have the patience and courage to stand by me when I needed the most help?
   
   
4. What if I had believed the neurosurgeon’s prognosis that I would probably never be able to return to any type of meaningful work?
   
   
5. What if I also believed the neurosurgeon’s prognosis that I would probably never be able to walk again?
   
   
6. What if I did not possess the faith that I’ve been blessed with that has enabled me to endure the last 16 1/2 years?
   
   
7. What if my employer, Xavier H.S., had not kept my job as assistant headmaster open for me during the academic year I was out?
   
   
8. What if the administration had not given me a second chance to return as a math teacher when my role as assistant headmaster did not work out?
   
   
9. What if I were not blessed with two wonderful parents who have done anything and everything for me since I got sick in order to help me get better?
   
   
10. What if I were not blessed with two wonderful sons who have loved me for who who I am now and not for who I was then?
    
    

A part of me does not want to know the answers to these questions. They only make me thankful that I’m still alive!

Copyright © 2001, * Michael Wlach